Mel Porter is on her way back to Chicago from a trip to break up with a former boyfriend when her vintage Mercedes, a legacy from her grandmother, breaks down. She calls for road service but no one can help. Suddenly she sees someone walking down the road.

Well, staggering would be more like it, but she isn't really alarmed until she sees that all he's wearing is a pair of snug fitting briefs.

Torn between her need to get back to her other inheritance, "The Watchfire Bar" and her concern about this strange man who seems to be taking in everything he sees and hears, she watches as he, somehow, restarts her car.

Even though she, tempted to just leave, she feels sorry for him and offers him a ride to Chicago, and gives him a pair of sweat pants and a (pink, sequined <G>) leotard so he doesn't need to run around in his underwear, and he continues to observe the people around him.

Now he's trying out some of the phrases he's heard and suddenly, grabs the wheel of the car, forcing Mel to stop. He gets out and Mel drives off shaking her head.

The man is looking for something, and ignoring the yellow crime scene tape, begins touching the chalk marking the outline of a murder victim. Vic, a Robbery-Homicide cop (and an old friend of Mel's) sees this strange man lying in the outline and asks him for ID. Vic tells him he can't stay here at the crime scene and the man, who has decided his name is Cole (from the brand of underwear on the billboard he took his looks from) manages to find the Watchfire Bar, interrupting a discussion between Mel and her "feisty barmaid", Jess.

Jess admires his enthusiasm for food and Mel decides that she'll give him a place to spend the night but that she's calling Social Services in the morning. Later that night, she's awakened by odd sounds coming from Cole's room. She goes to see what's going on, and is startled by a brilliant white light.

Cole returns to the crime scene the next day and we find out that he's looking for a killer from another solar system, Migar and that he has a personal reason for hunting down Rhee. Mel and Cole catch up with Rhee who has taken the body of a tall, muscular hooker. The battle begins and Mel tries to flag down a passing car to get help. Bad move. The driver of the car is Zin, also an alien but one Cole thought was helping him.

Cole collects Rhee and goes to help Mel, confronting Zin. Zin threatens to kill Mel if Cole/Daggon doesn't go back through the wormhole but Cole tries to get to her. Zin callously kills Mel and dumps her out of the car, taking off to meet the other 217 felons he has coming through the wormhole.

Cole is able to share his energy with Mel bringing her back and as the show closes, he tells her that he will need her help. "I know," she says, as Cole carries her off